2 F.B.I. Officials, Once Key Advisers to Comey, Leave the Bureau

A top F.B.I. aide, Lisa Page, who was ensnared in the political battle over the special counsel investigation when texts she exchanged with an agent became public, has left the bureau.CreditCreditSocial Media

WASHINGTON — Two top F.B.I. aides who worked alongside the former director James B. Comey as he navigated one of the most politically tumultuous periods in the bureau’s history resigned on Friday.

One of them, James A. Baker, was one of Mr. Comey’s closest confidants. He served as the F.B.I.’s top lawyer until December when he was reassigned as the new director, Christopher A. Wray, began installing his own advisers. Mr. Baker had been investigated by the Justice Department on suspicion of sharing classified information with reporters. He has not been charged.

The other aide, Lisa Page, advised Mr. Comey while serving directly under his deputy, Andrew G. McCabe. She was assailed by conservatives after texts that she had exchanged with the agent overseeing the investigation into links between President Trump’s campaign and Russia were made public. In the messages, they expressed anti-Trump views but took aim at Hillary Clinton and other political figures as well.

The decisions by Mr. Baker and Ms. Page to leave the bureau were unrelated. Mr. Baker said in a telephone interview that he would be joining the Brookings Institution to write for Lawfare, its blog focused on national security law.

“I love the F.B.I.,” he said. “I have tremendous respect for the bureau — the F.B.I. was great, is great and will be great.”

Mr. Comey relied heavily on Mr. Baker as he oversaw the politically charged investigations into Mrs. Clinton’s private email server and Mr. Trump’s campaign. After the president pressed Mr. Comey to say publicly that he was not under investigation, Mr. Baker cautioned against it because he anticipated that the F.B.I. would eventually have to examine Mr. Trump’s ties to Russia.

The president abruptly fired Mr. Comey a year ago and has cited a variety of rationales. His lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani said this week that Mr. Comey was ousted because he declined to say publicly that Mr. Trump was not under scrutiny at the time in the Russia investigation.

Ms. Page advised F.B.I. leadership on one of Mr. Comey’s most consequential decisions in the investigation into Mrs. Clinton: his move to hold a news conference to announce that the bureau was recommending that she face no charges.

House Republicans have also accused Mr. Baker of being the source of the leaks about a salacious dossier of information about Mr. Trump compiled by a former British spy.

Mr. Comey said in a statement that Mr. Baker “represents the best of the Department of Justice and the F.B.I.”

“He has protected the country and the rule of law throughout his career and leaves an inspiring legacy of service,” Mr. Comey said. “He is what we should all hope our kids become, a person of integrity.”

Correction:May 4, 2018

An earlier version of this article misstated the extent of Lisa Page’s role advising James B. Comey, the former F.B.I. director. Though she was an adviser at the time, she was not involved in his decision to tell Congress days before the 2016 election that the F.B.I. had reopened the inquiry into Hillary Clinton’s email server.